No Happy Endings: The 148th Hunger Games
by Dolphinsplash12
Summary: Every year, twenty four children go in, and only one comes out. With only two more years leading up to the next Quarter Quell, the new head Game maker wishes to send a message to the tributes and districts alike: there are no happy endings. Rated T for some violence (this is the Hunger Games after all).
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone, and thank you for taking the time to click on this story. This is my first Hunger Games story, as well as the first fanfiction I have written, and I hope I will be able to meet your expectations you had when you were looking at the summary a few moments ago. Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome, as I am always looking for new ways to improve as a writer. And to make things less confusing as to why there are hunger games going on after the third quarter quell, Katniss and Peeta never made it out of the 74th Games and Cato, typical of a career, was crowned the victor. Lastly, I would like to thank my beta reader ****Skylanian** **Writer,** without whom apostrophes would be nonexistent in this story. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not, have never, and will never own the Hunger Games Trilogy**

148th Hunger Games tribute list

District 1:

1m: Chalcedony Agahston (17)

1f: Chrysta Simons (18)

District 2:

2m: Jupiter Salisman (18)

2f: Haley Johnson (16)

District 3:

3m: Gregory Circuit (18)

3f: Alaina Levitt (16)

District 4:

4m: Moray Reef (18)

4f: Aleutian Hallows (17)

District 5:

5m: Harrlington Anantha (15)

5f: Hydro Leigh (13)

District 6:

6m: Meander Gwynn (12)

6f: Voyage Engelhardt (17)

District 7:

7m: Elm Brookstone (17)

7f: Ash Adderson (12)

District 8:

8m: Evander Alesina (17)

8f: Joan Fleeceton (12)

District 9:

9m: Timothy Spruce (17)

9f: Claire Fescue (15)

District 10:

10m: John Pasterly (16)

10f: Merino Paddock (16)

District 11:

11m: Jocote Solbrig (18)

11f: Goumi Nardelli (14)

District 12:

12m: Dean Ahn (16)

12f: Phoenix Levion (17)

"Fairy tales?" President Holbrook said, looking up from the papers. The Head Gamemaker searched his face for emotion but found it devoid of any. This made her extremely nervous. She wanted her first year in her new job to go as perfectly as possible.

"Do elaborate."

"Well sir, the idea behind it is all of the ideals and childhood fantasies of happy endings ultimately destroying them. There are no happy endings." She replied nervously. Holbrook smiled.

"Very good. You have all of the mutations you will be needing already created I assume? There would appear to be a lot compared to years past."

""I wanted to make it as real as possible sir." The Head Gamemaker smiled.

"It seems you have everything under control. I'll let you get back to it now." The president said.

She turned and started to walk back to the building.

"Oh, and one more thing I want you to add…"

**District 1**

"Chalcedony Agahston, you get back here right this instant!" Oh no. Things that start with that phrase never turn out well, Chalcedony thought to himself.

Turning around with the biggest grin he could muster he said "Yes, mother dearest, whatever can I do for you?" He had been heading for the garden outside, hoping to escape to the confines of his own small plant room he had created when he was seven. There were trellises crawling with morning glory, wisteria, moonflower, and clematis that created the walls and ceiling, along with potted plants all around on the stone slab floor. When he wasn't doing anything else, his favorite past time was to sit in there and play his guitar. But not today apparently.

"Just where do you think you're going young man? The reaping starts in an hour. Today's your big day, you have to get ready." She tried to say with a serious face, but Chalcedony could see the pride gleaming in her eyes.

Ah yes, the big moment when he would be expected to volunteer for the Hunger Games. It was his parents' idea really. They wanted their son to win the Hunger Games just as his mother had. From the moment he could walk, they began teaching him in the art of just about every weapon and survival tactic they knew. By age 13 he was the best in the career academy, and this year, he had finally been nominated by the mentors for the "honor" of competing. But Chalcedony didn't want to. To be perfectly honest, the idea of volunteering to go into an arena and slaughter children was just plain revolting. But this was District 1. Expressing any of these kinds of thoughts would get him shunned by everyone he knew and quite probably kicked out of his home. He loved his parents, but wasn't so sure he could actually bring himself to go through with their great plan for his future. He was only 17, and could wait to volunteer until next year. Why this year? He thought to himself. Maybe he would just let someone else volunteer. If he performed badly in the academy over the next year than perhaps they wouldn't nominate him again…

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of his mother's impatient voice. "Well, what are you waiting for, an invitation?"

"Yes ma'am. You see it would be incredibly rude of me to just turn around and head up the stairs without being invited to so. It's very important in today's day in age that you—"

"Just get upstairs."

Chalcedony grinned widely and proceeded to make his way up to his bedroom. Once inside, he was greeted by a small cream colored ball of fluff that launched itself at him from his bed.

"Hello to you too, Mima." He said to the Puff now sitting on his shoulder licking his face with a tiny pink tounge. Puffs were small mutations created by the Capitol originally for the purpose of being test subjects to search for traps set by rebels, but once their talent for humming was found, they quickly became beloved pets of Capitol children. Usually, you could only find Puffs in the Capitol(though there were rumored to be tribes of wild puffs living outside of the fence) but his mother had brought one back for him as a present after mentoring the games one year. Being extremely loyal, and perceptive to emotion, Puffs made exceptional pets. Chalcedony had even learned to hum out a few key phrases in the hidden language of the Puffs. Mima tried to learn English too, but wasn't too great.

"Dony back! Dony back! Mima sing!" she said and proceeded show him the new tune she had created earlier that morning. Chalcedony loved listening to her hum. All of his stress and worrying about the reaping melted away, and he sat on his bed listening to her sing until his mother yelled up.

"Chal? Are you ready? We're leaving in about two minutes!"

"I knew there was something I needed to do!" he murmered under his breath. "Coming Ma!" He quickly pulled on a blue button up shirt and to a quick glance in the mirror. His blond hair was hanging in his eyes and looked as if he had just gotten out of bed, but he didn't really have time to do anything about it. He ran him finger through it a few times until he looked semi-presentable and went back over to his bed where Mima was still humming. She jittered excitedly and hopped over when she saw him.

"I have to go now, Mima, with any luck I'll be home soon, but if not, know that I love you and that my mom will take care of you."

"Wer Dony go? Mima come?" she looked up at him and he wanted to tell her she could, but he knew better.

"I'm sorry, Mima, but you can't come this time. Just stay here and I'll be back soon okay?"

"Luv oo Dony."

"I love you too Mima."

And with one last glance at his Puff, he exited his bedroom and descended the stairs.

"And just what took you so long Mister?" his mother demanded as he reached the bottom. "Oh, and by the way, your father can't make it to the reaping but he says that he'll meet you at the Capitol." His father worked as a Game Maker and had been in the capitol preparing for five weeks now.

"I was saying goodbye to Mima." Chalcedony replied.

"Oh! That reminds me…" She pulled out a small black box. Inside was a black rope necklace with a square silver locket hanging from it. There, he found a picture of him and Mima sitting in the garden outside. He was playing his guitar and Mima was singing. Neither of them was looking at the camera, but both were smiling.

"I thought you could wear it as your token in the arena." She smiled.

"Thanks Mom." He smiled too and gave her a hug, feeling kind of guilty that he wasn't actually planning on volunteering.

"Let's get you to that reaping."

* * *

"Come on Chrys, were gonna be late!" exclaimed Seraphina. Chrysta rolled her eyes at her little sister.

"We've still got an hour before we have to get ready. I can train a bit longer if I want to."

Currently Chrysta was outside in the back yard practicing her skill sets with various practice weapons she had borrowed from the Academy. This was her year, and she meant to be ready for it.

"No you don't! You told me that exact same thing an hour ago!"

"Has it really been a whole hour?"

Seraphina nodded. "Dad told me to come get you and tell you to shower and get dressed."

"Fine, tell him I'll be in in a second." Chrysta watched her sister retreat back inside with a sigh and put her weapons away in the shed. She knew she was ready, but one could never have too much practice.

She entered the house through the sliding door at the kitchen and found her dad waiting for her.

"I can't believe you really get to volunteer this year." He said, his voice filled with pride. "Just promise me you'll come home?"

"Of course, Dad. There's no way I could lose." Chrysta said with a smirk.

"Alright. Go on up and get ready, we're leaving in thirty minutes."

After showering, Chrysta pulled on short, sparkly white dress with thin straps and put her curly blonde hair up into a loose ponytail. Nodding in the mirror, she headed back down stairs.

Seraphina was looking stunning in an identical dress in blue. The only real difference between the two was hair and eye color. She herself had blonde hair and blue eyes while her sister's eyes were deep brown as was her hair which was falling down her back all the way to her waist. Chrysta knew that her sister had plenty of male admirers at school, but turned them all down, preferring to spend her free time training. Much like herself, Chrysta thought. Seraphina wouldn't be volunteering for two years, but of course wanted to look her best should the cameras focus on her.

"You look nice." Her sister said smiling

"Not looking too bad yourself," replied Chrysta.

"Both of you look lovely. Come on, we wouldn't want to be late." Her father said.

And with that, the three of them proceeded to make their way out the door and down to the Justice Building.

* * *

After arriving at the reaping, Chalcedony signed in and made his way over to where all of the seventeen year olds stood waiting. He suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Chal, you excited?" his best friend Jason asked "I can't believe you actually get to volunteer this year!"

"Yeah," Chalcedony plastered a fake grin on his face, "I can't wait."

"I know you're going to do great." Jason told him.

"Thanks"

All too soon, the escort was up on stage. She looked ridiculous this year, with her skin dyed a pastel pink and a giant wig that looked as if belonged in the rain forest. Chalcedony swore her outfits got uglier every year. 'Is she trying to blind us on purpose?' he thought.

"Welcome to the annual 148th Hunger Games reaping everybody!" she said excitedly in the terrible capitol accent. After reading the incredibly long and boring Treaty of Treason, the reaping began.

"Ladies first." She walked over to the big glass bowl that held the girls names. "Susan-"

"I volunteer."

One of the girls strolled leisurely up to the stage from the 18 year olds section. Chalcedony recognized her from training. She was about 5'8 and had a small frame, but he knew what she was capable of. Man, he was glad he wouldn't be the one having to go up against her this year.

"And you are?"

"Chrysta Simons."

"Wonderful. Now for the boys." Chalcedony watched as she slipped her hand into the bowl and pulled out a name.

"Chalcedony Agahston." He waited a few seconds for someone to volunteer. Nobody did. Of course they wouldn't. He had been nominated and they were worried he would attack them or something if they tried. It just had to be his name.

He forced smirk onto his face and sauntered up to the stage.

"District 1, I present to you, your tributes for this year's Hunger Games, Chrysta Simons and Chalcedony Agahston!"

The crowd went wild. 'Well,' Chalcedony thought to himself, 'If I can't get out of it now, I'll just have to make sure that I'm the one who gets out of it in the end.'

* * *

**District 2**

"And this year's nominee for female tribute is…"

'Probably one of those insufferable eighteen year olds,' thought Haley. 'Always talking about how they're gonna go and win the games. I bet most of them don't even have a plan. I'm sixteen and I already have a plan for goodness sake. I can't wait till I'm eighteen. Maybe then I'll be the one nominated,' she thought smugly.

"Haley Johnson!"

Wait what?

"Congratulations Haley, the trainers have agreed that you are the most prepared of this year's group and have ensured you the position of this year's female tribute. We trust that nobody else will be volunteering?"

There were several glares her way from the eighteen year old girls, but nobody challenged her. They didn't want to have to deal with the head trainer's wrath at being argued with.

"Good. And this year's male tribute nominee will be—Christopher Axel."

He's a good choice, Haley thought. He was pretty lethal, but she knew that she would be able to win if it came to it. She had seen him train and would be able to work well with him in an alliance, but more importantly, had never actually trained with him herself and wouldn't feel too badly if she killed him.

"Congratulations both of you, and good work to everyone else. Training will resume two weeks after the Hunger Games end."

"Oh my gosh Haley, great job!" exclaimed her friend Jane after the crowd had dispersed. "You've got to be the youngest career in ten years!"

"Thanks. It was a bit of a surprise to me too. And when you get nominated next year we can be mentors together!" Haley said.

"Feeling very sure of ourselves are we?"

"Of course! I'll show those other tributes what being a victor really is."

"Good, we could really use a winner this year." Jane muttered darkly. Jane despised the fact that District 2s tributes have lost every year for the past five years.

Haley couldn't help but agree with her. District 2 was the laughingstock of the career districts. If they didn't get back on track soon, none of the other careers would take them seriously. The reason people entered the Hunger Games was to bring honor to their district. 2's tributes had died before the final 6 the past four years in a row, but Haley knew she could change that. She would make her District proud.

* * *

Jupiter was furious.

"How?! How could they pick that pansy for the games?! This is my last year! I performed better than Christopher ever did and everyone there knows it!"

"Maybe they didn't want you going because of Haley? You guys train together all the time and they probably wanted to tributes with different skill sets. And two tributes who wouldn't be afraid to kill each other if it came down to it..." Jupiter's sister Dawn commented. Dawn was only two years older than he was, and they were very close.

"I could so kill Haley if I really needed too!" Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Sure you could." She said grinning

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, it's just that you two have been friends forever and I'm not really sure that you have it in you to kill her. Besides, we all know that you-"

"I do NOT like Haley! How many times do I have to tell you this?!"

"If you say so..." Dawn said, grinning even wider now.

"I've got to go get ready." Jupiter growled, suddenly very frustrated with the conversation.

He retreated back to his bedroom and slumped onto his bed. He could hear his sister laughing in the hallway. He didn't like Haley, did he? Sure she was pretty, no doubt about that. With her glossy, raven black hair and dark eyes she was always the center of attention at the Academy. Her laugh was also beautiful, like a thousand small bells all sounding at once...Wait. What was he thinking? No, he did not like Haley, he reminded himself. They were training partners. Just friends. Besides, he was entering the Games this year whether the trainers liked it or not. He would have to put his friendship with her aside. Maybe if he caught her at the reaping, he could stop her from volunteering. Then he wouldn't have to kill her at all. She still had two years left to volunteer after all. Maybe they could even become consecutive victors! But what if he didn't see her before then? Maybe he could help keep her alive as long as possible and protect her in the arena—

'No,' he commanded himself. He wouldn't think about that. He shook his head and quickly put on his reaping outfit before heading back to the living room where his sister was waiting for him.

Dawn must have seen his expression because she said, "you're going to volunteer anyway, aren't you?"

"Don't be silly, Dawn."

"Head trainer's not going to like that, Jupiter."

"Well it's a good thing that Head Trainer is not in charge of the reaping isn't it?"

Dawn shook her head. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

"I hope you're not planning on volunteering this year, are you?"

Haley spun around in line as the sound of Carmen Valerie's voice reached her. Everyone had assumed that she would be this year's female tribute.

"Of course I'm volunteering."

"I wouldn't if I were you," Carmen breathed in her ear.

"I can do whatever I want to thank you very much."

"I don't think I like your attitude."

"Cause I care deeply if you like my attitude."

"Listen here," Carmen said, pushing Haley. "This is my year. Mine. Not yours. You still have two years left. This is my last one and I'm going to be this year's tribute even if it kills me!"

"See, that's exactly why I'm volunteering not you. It would kill you, and then where would district two be?"

"That is it!" Carmen screeched, and threw herself at Haley. Haley sighed internally. She was expecting something like this. That's exactly why she had brought her knife with her. As Carmen lunged, Haley pulled the knife out from her boot and slashed the older girl across the face. Carmen screamed in pain and tried to punch her in the stomach, but missed as Haley cut across her arm this time. By now a large crowd had formed around the check-in line, and many people were cheering them on.

This time, as Carmen threw a strike, Haley went to the outside of her punch, slipped behind her and held the knife to her throat.

"Do you still want to volunteer, Carmen?" She asked.

Carmen growled and said "Forget it. You're not worth my time."

The crown cheered as Carmen stalked off to wait with the other eighteen year olds.

"Nice going!" Jane said from behind her.

"Thanks, she was really starting to get on my nerves. Someone had to teach her a lesson."

Both girls signed in together and headed for the sixteen year olds' section.

They groaned when they looked up on stage and saw what the escort was wearing. 'Who in their right mind would wear that?' Haley thought disgustedly. Their escort's name was bad enough. Sunshine Rainbows (why a parent would think this was a good name for a child was beyond her) had dyed his hair a variety of the brightest colors known to man, and was wearing a sunshine yellow suit so bright it almost hurt to look at the guy. 'Capitolites,' she thought, 'must have no sense of sight'. Everyone in district two was used to color, being a nicer district, but that didn't mean that they went around in demented duck suits. Today she herself was dressed in a flowing turquoise dress, nice brown leather boots, and had sparkling pins holding her hair up in a braided bun on the back of her head.

She was snapped out of her thoughts about her escort's terrible fashion sense by the mayor welcoming everyone and beginning to read the Treaty of Treason. This was it. In less than five minutes she would be this year's female tribute.

"Let's see who this year's female tribute will be, yes?"

"Veronica-"

"I volunteer."

Haley walked to the stage, full of pride. 'Carmen didn't even try to volunteer!' she thought with glee. She made sure to shoot the older girl a smug look on her way up the steps. Carmen glared back at her, hatred clear in her eyes. If looks could kill…

"And what's your name dear?" The duck-man asked

"Haley Johnson."

"Very good!" Now for our male tribute."

" And this year's tribute is Andr—"

"I volunteer." Haley heard a voice from the eighteen year old section call. Only it wasn't the voice she was expecting to hear. The smile slipped off her face as she lost her composition for a moment but quickly regained it, remembering that she was on national television.

"And who might you be young man?"

Before the boy could answer, Christopher's voice called out from the crowd.

"Hang on! This was supposed to be my year to volunteer!"

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules and this young man volunteered first," replied Sunshine.

Christopher gave the boy the death glare before retreating back to his section.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"Jupiter Salisman."

"Very nice name! District two, may I present to you this years tributes, Haley Johnson and Jupiter Salisman!"

"Okay, shake hands you two," Haley looked up and met the eyes of this year's fellow tribute as she shook his hand.

'Not him, please anyone but him.'

* * *

District 3

"Alright everyone! Get out of here! Reaping starts in an hour and I expect you all to be here on time!" shouted the peace keeper.

Greg sighed in relief. His fingers were incredibly sore after his four hour shift of piecing together firearms in the factory, a job he had held since he was ten. He didn't really mind though. As far as factory jobs go, his was one of the better ones. His mother had worked in a factory for a year where all she did was make light bulbs. Shattered glass all over the floor, no break time, and frequent electrical fires were only a few of the reasons she left. The peace keepers there were also terrible.

Up until about a year ago, Greg had despised all peacekeepers, assuming that they were all the same as the one who had killed an old man in the square back when he was seven. They had all seemed vicious, evil even, and he had thought for a while that they were all out to get him to. But then he met Natalie. She had been shipped off to their district the day after her reaping as an eighteen year old, and became a peacekeeper guard for his factory. She knew almost nothing about district three. She always looked so lonely, and never really bothered the workers, so he had decided it couldn't hurt to ask if she needed any help learning about the district. It turned out that they both had the same lunch shift, and so Greg had agreed to talk to her and give some basic information about the people. The next day she came over and sat with him again, and even began to talk to him while he worked after he had expressed his boredom with the task he had been given since he was a kid. It turned out that they both had a lot in common, and they became close really quickly. About a month later, she asked him out on a date. And he said yes.

Peacekeepers, he decided, weren't all that terrible. She introduced him to some of her peacekeeper friends and they actually turned out to be pretty decent people. When he introduced her to his friends, they were a bit wary of her at first but then they, too, decided that maybe Peacekeepers weren't the evil jerks they had once thought. Eventually all of their friends got to know each other and became close friends. And when the people in the rest of the district found out, they got to know the peace keepers for who they were too. The man who had killed the civilians had already been shipped off to another district, and almost all of the other peace keepers turned out to be friendly and social. The ones who weren't thought it was sweet that everyone was getting along and decided to turn a blind eye on the condition that when the capitol decided to check up on the district, they act hostile toward each other. Unfortunately, with today being the reaping and all, today was one of said days.

"What are you still doing here? I said get out." Greg turned as he heard Natalie behind him.

"Aww, but I was just finishing up with this here gun. We need to meet the quota of firearms this month.

Natalie smiled. "We met the quota five days ago and you know it! Now get out of here before I call for back up!"

Natalie always had fun pretending she was a strict peacekeeper, but Greg knew she wouldn't hurt a fly. In fact she often asked him to come over to her house to kill the spiders because she 'didn't know if she could kill them morally.' How she managed to graduate from peacekeeper school was beyond him.

"Oh will you? Oooohhh, back up!" I'm so scared now!"

"Veronica! Ashley! We have a security issue. Mr. Gregory Circuit doesn't seem to want to evacuate the premises."

"He doesn't, does he?" Veronica smiled, "We'll see about that." She grabbed the stun gun from her belt and held it out menacingly.

"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" Greg said. Since it wouldn't cause any lasting major injury, he knew that Veronica would use it regardless of being his friend. Being a peacekeeper had its advantages he thought. Maybe he could become a peacekeeper. This was his last reaping after all.

* * *

"Alaina! We have to leave in twenty minutes and you still have to get dressed and eat!"

Alaina groaned and rolled over. After four years of reapings, she knew the routine. Get up at the crack of dawn. Ride the public bus two hours to get to the reaping. Feel sorry for the poor souls who were being shipped off to die. Return home. Go to work. Repeat next year.

She had her name in that large bowl forty five times this year. She didn't want to take tesserae out, but didn't really see that they had much of an option. The family was really poor and consisted of nine people including her. Fifty four slips next year. She couldnt wait. She put on her reaping clothes (the same white dress shirt and black skirt she'd been wearing since she was thirteen and a hand-me-down from her older sister) and pulled her blonde hair up into a ponytail. Breakfast consisted of a glass of not-so-clean water and slice of flat, stale bread (as usual) and the bus ride was tight and compact with people all trying to get to the reaping on time. Some if the smaller children were crying, but the majority were just stoically standing there, trying to block out the pain of yet another reaping. Alaina was almost relieved when the train finally came to a stop. She couldn't wait to get away from all of the people. At least in the town square there would be a bit more room to move around.

The escort was looking ridiculous, as usual. Alaina rather liked looking at their strange foreign outfits. They reminded her of the foreign birds she had seen in a book once and it helped take her mind away from the fact that these were real people who were happy about watching her friends die on national television. Two years ago, her best friend Callie had been called up. Alaina had tried to volunteer, but Callie wouldn't allow it. Her family needed her, is what she had said. And then she had died at the hands of a psychotic career who had bashed her head in with a rock to a point of making her beyond recognition. There are some things people just can't get over. That was one of them. Alaina was never quite the same afterward.

She heard her name called over the microphone. She should have known this would happen. There weren't any happy endings in life, and she shouldn't have expected to get one. She suppressed her sadness and walked up to the stage with a blank expression. The boy was called next. Some eighteen year old named Gregory Circuit who she recognized as being the boy who brought together the citizens and peacekeepers of her district.

_'Looks like he wouldn't be getting his happily ever after either,'_ she thought. Nobody ever will.

* * *

**District four**

_'Moray! We have to go. Right now! The storms coming!' _

_He tried to run, but his feet felt like they were glued to the sand. He could only watch helplessly as the wave rolled in and grabbed her. Swallowing her whole, never to be seen again._

_'Cassie!' _

Moray woke up screaming as he tried to get the memory out of his head. Every night, he was forced to watch her drown, just like he was just two months earlier. They had been on the beach playing in the water together. He had just proposed and they had been celebrating when a freak storm came out of nowhere. And then the wave. He had searched the water frantically for her but was dragged away by the rescue team who assured him that they would find her. And they did. Dead and washed up on the shore with a broken neck the next morning. Two months later, and Moray still hadn't recovered.

At least this morning was the reaping and he wouldn't be expected to function. Then afterward he could return home and continue to grieve in peace.

* * *

Aleutian set down the length of rope she was using as her mother called to her from inside. She had to come in in fifteen minutes to get ready for the reaping.

'Great' she thought to herself. Time to get ready to see more of her fellow district mates get shipped off to the capitol. She'd heard that the capitol was actually pretty nice. Maybe she would be allowed to go to the capitol now that her bracelet making business had reached the citizens there. She collected shells with her sister in the beach with her sister and they wove them into fishnet making rope. They were becoming quite popular. She'd have to go get more shells after the reaping. Except it wasn't quite as fun now that her sister had died in that wave accident. It had happened about two months ago. Cassandra had liked the beach. It seemed mean that she was killed there. Aleutian had loved visiting the beach too, before the accident. The seagulls there were nice. Would there be seagulls other places too? What about fish? Her uncle owned a business selling fishnets. Why didn't other districts fish like they did? She was glad she worked making bracelets though. Much better than killing poor innocent swimming things. Wait. What was she supposed to be doing again? At least she had time to finish the bracelet she was making.

"Come on, Aleutian. We really have to get moving," her mother called from inside.

Oh! That's right. She was supposed to be getting ready for the reaping. She kept forgetting that she let her mind wander a bit too often. She really was smart, but she just couldn't focus. The doctor had told her she just had a bad case of attention deficit disorder, but Aleutian knew that wasn't the problem. She hadn't always been this way. It started just after Cassie had died in that freak wave accident. Aleutian had almost lost it completely, and she guessed that her mind had decided to become hyperactive so she wouldn't think of her sister too often and become insane. It was very kind of her brain to try and protect her, she thought, but she wished that it would take down the barrier. She could think of her sister without breaking down now, but her mind wouldn't take down the barrier yet. The doctor had prescribed her some pills, but all they did was make her drowsy. Nothing could keep her focused unless she really tried. Like right now.

"Coming Mom!"

Aleutian rushed inside and barely had time to change before being rushed out again. They lived fairly close to the town square, so they were able to walk along the boardwalk to get there. She signed in and headed over to the seventeen year olds section. Everybody there looked at her with pity. The whole district missed Cassie.

The escort looked out at the crowd and called for silence. She was an odd woman, and reminded Aleutian slightly of a clownfish with her white and orange stripped wig. What was her real hair color? Why did Capitol people dye their hair anyway? People were fine the way they were. If she moved to the capitol, she would never dye her hair and skin funny colors. Shed have a nice house though. Perhaps a house with a pools so she could go swimming. If it was heated, then she could even swim in the winter! If the pool were inside though, then she could even swim in the rain. Yes, she thought, the pool would definitely be heated and indoors—

"Aleutian Hallows"

"Yes?" Aleutian asked, confused about what was going on.

"You've been chosen, dear. Come on up to the stage." Oh. Well. This was certainly not a pleasant surprise. Nowhere near as nice as the heated indoor swimming pool. Not even close. Soon she was going to be fighting twenty three other kids and she wouldn't even be able to keep her focus long enough to defend herself!

"Okay everybody! Now let's pick this year's male tribute." The fish-wig lady walked over to the second fish bowl and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Moray Reef."

No! Not him!

Aleutian watched as her sister's would-have-been husband walked up onto the stage. Aleutian was almost glad her sister wasn't here right now. It couldn't have been worse. Her sister and fiancé being taken on the same day and either one or neither would come out. Maybe Aleutian could help get Moray out. That's what her sister would have wanted her to do. Or maybe it would be better if she just avoided him altogether. She would just be a liability. Either way, one thing was certain. Aleutian had a 0% chance of coming home.

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. If you could let me know what you thought, that would be great, and hopefully I can get the next chapter up soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I have not, do not, and will never own the Hunger Games trilogy

* * *

**District Five**

Harrlington wanted to roll his eyes as the small audience gaped at the dove he had just 'pulled out of an empty cage'. It was simple trick really. If they looked hard enough, they would be able to notice that it was just a regular cage and a homemade mirror contraption, but these people were so desperate to see something magical in the bland, hopeless world that was Panem that they didn't even bother to look for an explanation. Not one of his better tricks, but if it impressed the audience and got him money, Harrlington didn't really care. He spent his days working as a pickpocket, thief, street magician, and in all other words, liar. He was actually incredibly good at his job, though it he couldn't take all of the credit. His stagehand/partner in crime/best friend/adopted sister, Hydro, played a big role in his success. She made the audience believe in his tricks though her reactions as an 'audience member', helped him in robberies by distracting his victims, and even helped him set up some difficult magic tricks or robberies.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed todays magic show, and make sure to come back tomorrow if you want to see even more magic."

"Good job, as usual, Harley." said Hydro as she began to count the money they had brought in from today's show.

"Same to you," he replied. He began to put away the tricks from the show, which they would pack up and take to whichever one of the emergency shelters they would be staying in today. They had about fifteen of them total hidden throughout the city, but only a third of them were secret. The others were known to the group known as the thieves guild which both he and Hydro were a part of. It was a great group to belong to because of the benefits such as access to safehouses and the occasional trading and sharing of stolen goods at secure locations, but it was also dangerous. Harrlington knew the risks going into it. If the peacekeepers found out about the guild, they could be in serious trouble. This was why they tried to use their own safehouses as often as possible.

When they got back to the safe house they would be using for the night, it was already time to leave for the reaping. Before leaving though, he and Hydro both dug out the small necklaces they had made the years of their first reapings. Each one was made of a strong paracord rope and had charms made of bits of useful material such as a charm made of a shiny black rock, which if ground up, could be used to create a darkness powder or a charm made of random metal bits and pieces that could help to assemble some sort of weapon or tool in the arena. They had checked them over at least a hundred times to make sure that to a gamemaker, it wouldn't look like it would be an advantage, just a really bizzare token. In reality though, the different components of the necklace could get them out of just about any situation they could think of. They wore them every year at the reaping, just as a precaution on the off chance one of them would be reaped.

When they got to the reaping, they wished each other good luck and then headed off into their respective waiting areas. The mayor came up on stage and read the boring Treaty of Treason which Harrlington ignored as usual. _'You'd think they would realize that nobody actually pays attention to that thing anymore,' _he thought to himself. As the escort came up on the stage, he was snapped out of his thoughts as she drew a name out of the bowl.

_'__Anyone but Hydro,' _he thought.

"Hydro Leigh."

Hydro wasn't really surprised when she heard her name called. Her luck had always been terrible and it was only a matter of time before it ran out completely. She had expected it to be called last year and was incredibly surprised when it wasn't.

She walked up to the stage trying to appear emotionless. It was best if the other tributes couldn't get any sort of read on her personality that they could use against her. She wasn't fast or strong, but she was one of the smartest kids her age, and she hoped that would be enough to get her out alive.

The escort said something to her but she wasn't really paying attention. Just nod and go along.

When the escort reached her hand into the bowl for the male tribute she was relieved that it wasn't Harley. But then she heard the worst sound possible.

"I volunteer." She heard his voice coming over from the fifteen year old section. Evidently he had forgotten his promise he had made that he wouldn't ever volunteer. She found it sweet that her 'brother' would sacrifice his life to protect her, but honestly, what was he thinking! At least one, maybe both of them could have survived to live another year, but now it was likely that neither would. Surely he knew she wouldn't let him sacrifice his life for her?

As they shook hands, she made a silent promise that her brother would be the ne leaving the arena.

**District 6**

The first thing Voyage heard when she got home was the yelling. Of course, this was to be expected. Voyage's parents hated each other, and they did nothing to hide it. The only reason they were still together, she knew, was that neither one of them wanted the other parent to have too much influence over her life.

As soon as she walked into the room, her parents stopped yelling and pretended that they were having a civil conversation. Voyage could still see the vase her mother was holding in her hand, evidence that the fight was going to become violent again. Her father's face was bright red.

"Hello, Voyage. You're home early."

"Yeah, they tend to do that when the reaping is in twenty minutes," she told her mother. Sometimes she wished that they actually paid attention.

"Is that today?" her dad asked.

"No, father, it was last Thursday," she said sarcastically, "That's why we got out of school early."

"Oh. Well you'd better go get ready then."

'_Really? Why hadn't I thought of that?' _she thought. As she walked into her room, she heard the yelling start again and a noise that sounded suspiciously like shattering glass. Voyage couldn't even count how many times she had had to clean up broken furniture and glass in the past few weeks. She couldn't wait until she could find a job of her own and move out. She already practically ran the household. She did the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores on her own. The only thing she couldn't do was pay for it. And that was why she stayed. Her friend's family had offered to take her in, but their family was already poor and Voyage didn't want to give them another mouth to feed.

When she got back out to the kitchen, she found her mother kneeling next to her father who was lying in a pile of glass shards. _Here we go again…._

* * *

Meander was having a boring morning. His parents had been looking sad all morning and he couldn't figure out why. He knew it was his first reaping, but surely they knew that the odds of him getting picked were next to nothing, right? He told them this, and they smiled weakly, but didn't seem to get any happier. He hated seeing them so sad. Meander hated seeing anyone sad in fact and that was one of the reasons he hated going to the reapings. Everyone there all looked either terrified, were crying, or both.

His parents had dressed him up in the only nice outfit he owned which consisted of pair of kahki pants and a white polo shirt. When he came into the kitchen, his mother began fussing over his brown hair which he hadn't brushed. He didn't really see what the point was in looking nice to go the reapings. If the district was poor and the capitol knew it, what did it matter if they let it show? Maybe some nice Capitol person might decide to send help!

As they approached the square, his parents paused.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that, it's your first reaping. If you were picked I—" his mom wasn't even able to finnish the thought. Meander went over and gave her a hug.

"It's okay mom! I'll be fine, you'll see."

"Aren't you scared at all Ander?" his father asked him

"Nope. My name is only in there once. And even if I was picked, I'm sure I could come back anyway!" His parents looked at each other.

"I'm sure you could, Sweetie. Let's just hope you're right and that you don't get picked at all," his mom said.

"Okay."

Meander flinched as the lady poked his finger with the needle.

"Ouch! Why do you guys have to do that anyway?"

"It's to make sure everyone shows up," Said the women tonelessly.

"Can't you just check our name off a list or something like they do during fire drills at school? That seems to work just fine and is a lot less painful!"

"Next!" called the woman. _'Okay, or don't answer me. That works too,' _he thought. There had to be some reason, but Meander didn't really care enough to think about it anymore. Instead, he went over and stood next to his friends who were standing in the twelve year old's section.

Then the escort came up wearing a ridiculous bright pink wig that poofed out to twice the normal size it should be. It looked like she had been electrocuted or something.

"Look at her hair!" he whispered to his nervous friend next to him who gave a small laugh. Meander loved making people feel better.

Then the escort stepped up to the first bowl. A girl named Voyage Engelhardt was called, and walked up to the stage holding back tears. Then the escort made his way over to the bowl of boy's names and Meander sent up a silent prayer that for his parents' sakes, it wasn't him.

But it was.

"Meander Gwynn." All of the Cameras turned to focus on him. Meander smiled nervously and walked up to the stage to where the girl named Voyage stood with a tear silently falling down her cheek.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," he whispered to her. She looked at him a bit surprised and then nodded.

"Okay you two, shake hands," the escort said. Meander reached out his hand and shook hers. He could see his parents crying out the corner of his eye.

"District six, your tributes for the 148th annual Hunger Games!"

District 7

Elm winced as he heard the whip sound again. Evidently somebody was not doing their work fast enough and he felt sorry for the poor kid who was getting their back torn open. The orphanage they lived at was not exactly known for being kind and compassionate.

He had been living there with his "siblings"/roommates for as long as he could remember. They told him that when he was first born, his parents didn't want to have another mouth to feed and dropped him off. Elm had always resented them for that. Instead of being brought up by a loving family, he had been raised by peacekeepers and the staff in the orphanage who hardly fed him and beat him on a weekly basis. The one good thing about living here was that he could help the other kids who were dropped off by cruel parents.

Today, like many days, all of the able kids were outside working. The older ones like himself chopped the wood and the younger ones carried them to piles or tied the bundles with rope to be shipped off somewhere else. In about five minutes, though, they would be let out of work and sent to the cafeteria and then their rooms to get ready for the reapings.

Next year would be Elm's last year to be eligible for the reapings and therefore his last year in the orphanage. The day you turned nineteen, they unceremoniously dumped you out on the streets and told you good luck. Elm figured that he would try his best to get a job and move in with Adam who said he would wait for him and the rest of his foster family to get out and move in with him. Adam was the oldest member of the room 23 family and this was his last year he was eligeable for the reapings. In about five months, he would turn nineteen and they would boot him out.

Elm left as soon as he heard the bell ring and took off torward the cafeteria to sit at his table and wait for his sibilings. There were eight of them including himself. The first one was Adam. He was eighteen and was the father figure in their little group who everybody looked up to for advice. He came to the orphanage when he was five and was the first one to be placed in room 23 with Elm. It was just them for about 5 months before John, who was the same age as himself, came. John was the only one who had come from a decent family, but was taken to the orphanage when his parents were killed by peacekeepers who accused them of being rebels when John was four. It was just the three of them for a while, and then Ashley came in when she was seven after she had run away from abusive parents. That was all she would tell them. She was sixteen now and still woke up screaming from the nightmares. Then came Grace at the age of five, but was now fourteen. She was a bit quiet but still really nice. She can't remember why she came in, and that's probably for the best. Next was Noah who came in around age ten. He was twelve now and eligible for his first reaping. And lastly the twins, Cloe and Sam, who were only seven, and came to them about a year ago. The room was now full until Adam left and they would be able to take in one more person.

As soon as everyone came in, they all ate a quick lunch and headed back to the room to get ready for the reaping.

"Soooo, how is everone's day going?" asked Adam. Everyone shot him a look.

"Adam, its reaping day. How do you think our day is going?" asked John.

"I just wanted to start a conversation. It's better than not talking at all, isn't it?"

"I guess so. Oh, does anybody know if Tommy is okay? He dropped some wood when he tripped walking to the pile and the peacekeepers were, um, a bit harsh if you know what I mean."

_'__So that was the whipping noise I heard earlier' _Elm thought. He felt bad for Tommy who was only ten. '_The staff here really have no hearts.'_

"Yeah, he's fine," said Ashley. "They let me take him back to the hospital to get fixed up."

"Why don't the people here like us?" asked Chloe. The older children exchanged glances. They wanted to keep the kids innocent for as long as possible, but they had to learn how the real world worked at some point.

"Chloe, Sam," started Adam, "There's something you need to know about the world and I think you're finally old enough to hear it. The country we live in is not a very nice place. It's filled with mean people who don't always have good intentions. Just know that you can trust us and we will always do our best to help you. That goes for everyone here. We're a family, and families stick together and help each other out." Everyone nodded. "Okay everybody, we have a reaping to get ready for and we had best get moving if we don't want the peacekeepers after us."

All of the children quickly changed into the only nice outfits they owned. They were provided by the orphanage, and so they were all identical. Grey pants and a white button down for the boys, and a long grey skirt and white blouse for the girls. Elm took one last look back at the room he grew up in, knowing all too well that it could be the last time he would ever see it.

Ash Adderson was having a great morning. She had been training since she woke up around five in the morning and had finally perfected her new climbing technique. She could scale the tree at least twice as fast as before. She couldn't wait to show her mother.

"Mom!" she shouted into the house, "Come see what I learned!" her mother walked out of the house and followed her to the tallest tree in the forest behind their house. In less than a minute she was perched like a bird at the top of the tree looking down 150 feet at the tiny speck of her mother. She thought she could see a smile on her face.

Ash was down the tree in the same amount of time it took her to climb up it and looking up at her mother who was, in fact, smiling. "Great job Ash, I knew you could do it! You're definitely ready."

She smiled up at her mother who was still staring proudly at her only daughter. Ash knew she meant it because Birch Adderson almost never gave out compliments. Today, Ash was going to volunteer to compete in the Hunger Games. Her mother was a previous victor and had been teaching Ash all of the skills she would need since she could stand. Everything from wild plants, to combat, to strategy had been learned and mastered. This year, Ash was going to become the youngest victor in all of Panem's history. She only wished her father would understand.

When her mother had first started training her, he had strongly opposed. He decided to leave, but was not able to get permission from the mayor to take his daughter with him. Of course the Mayor would side with his district's victor. And so Ash was raised with the mentality of a career tribute. Brining honor to one's district was most important, and the ends justify the means. She knew what she would have to do to get out alive and she was okay with that as long as she could help out district seven. While her family was well off, the rest of her district was not and winning would give them enough money and gifts to get back on their feet.

When she and her mother got back to the house, she headed upstairs, showered, and got dressed for the reaping in a long, forest green dress and black shoes. She chose to straighten her brown hair and leave it down meaning it reached past her waist and completed the outfit with the bracelet that would be her district token, a silver bracelet with two charms on it. An ash tree and a birch tree. It was gift from her mother on her seventh birthday, and her mother had one just like it that she always wore.

Together she and her mother walked down to the justice building for her fist reaping and the last one she would ever have to be on stage for as a tribute. Next year it would be as mentor.

The reaping started off just as boring as usual. The boring treaty of treason. The escort wearing yet another tree costume (a pine tree this year!). And then the choosing of the female tribute. Evergreen lady walked over to the first bowl and reached her hand in.

"Shauna White."

And then the most peculiar thing happened.

"I volunteer as a tribute."

Her voice rang out clearly through the square. Everyone looked around for the volunteer but couldn't see her through the mass of people. It wasn't until she reached the stage that the people could actually get a look at their new tribute through the crowd. There was visible shock throughout the district as they realized that their first volunteer in over thirty years was only twelve years of age and arguably one of the smallest children in her age range.

"Are you sure you want to volunteer, sweetie?" the escort asked her with a hint of concern in her face.

"Yes," her answer was clear and confident as if she had been preparing for this moment her whole life.

"Okay then, and would you please tell everybody your name?"

"Ash Adderson."

"As in Birch Adderson's daughter?"

"Yes."

The escort let out a little squeal of delight. "This is going to be so exciting!" she said. "Okay, okay, now onto the gentlemen. She reached her hand into the second bowl and pulled out another name. "Elm Brookstone." A boy walked up to the stage when a voice called out from the eighteen year old section

"I volunteer!" The boy up on stage had a look of surprise and horror on his face.

"No Adam!" he looked desperately at the escort before telling the older boy "No, I don't accept. Adam, you have to take care of the others!" the boy named Adam started to interrupt, but Elm cut him off again. "You aren't going to change my mind. They need you and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you died in there." And with that, they boy made his way up the stage to where the escort was grinning like a lunatic at the excitement of this year's reaping

"District seven, I give you this year's tributes, Elm Brookstone, and Ash Adderson!"

DISTRICT 8

Evander looked up at the clock from his work bench. In approximately thirty seconds, his mother would come bursting through the door telling him it was time to get ready for the reapings. He sighed and decided to put his work away. Unlike many people in his district, Evander actually enjoyed his job. He created new fabric patterns that would be used in the clothing made for the capitol. Right now, the current faze was, for some odd reason, the zentangle design which consisted of many small designs put together to form a larger design or image.

Not a moment after his papers were put back in the folder, his mother came through the door.

"Evander! Oh, you're already finished. Perfect timing. We have to get ready to leave. We need to be out the door in exactly fifteen minutes if we want to make it to the bus on time."

"Yes, mom. You went over the schedule at least ten times yesterday." Evander knew he should try and be more patient with his mother, but she had to be the most OCD person on the planet. There wasn't a thing out of place in the house, and it drove her absolutely crazy when they were not exactly on time for something. As soon as he moved out of the house, he knew that there was no way he was ever going to be organized again. She was forgetful too. Sometimes, she called him by his uncle's name and there were a few days where she couldn't remember his name at all. And what worried him the most was that it was beginning to become more frequent.

He left his work room and headed to his room where he got dressed for the reaping in a blue polo and black pants. Then he looked at the clock and realized he still had ten minutes to kill. He took out his photo album as he did before the start of every reaping. Not many people in the district could afford a camera, let alone an individual portrait photograph, but his family was fairly well off and was able to purchase a camera back when he was five. It was one of the old fashioned ones where the picture would come out as soon as it was taken, and you had to wait a few seconds for it to appear on the paper.

The first picture when he opened the book was of him and his sister. They were playing together out in the yard looking for four-leaf clovers. Evander smiled at the picture, remembering it clearly. It was one of the last pictures in the album with a picture of her in it. About two weeks after it had been taken, she had been diagnosed with some disease that Evander was too young to pronounce the name of at the time. She died four months later. He had never quite been the same afterward. He stopped talking to his friends and family, and refused to leave his room for two months straight. He had gotten over it since then, realizing that she would want him to move on and do something with his life, but he still missed her.

Evander headed to the front door where his mother and father were waiting for him. She should have been there too. This would have been his sister's second year without a reaping.

Joan looked up from her sewing machine to look at the time. She would be let out in less than five minutes. For the first time in her life, she wished that the work day was longer. In less than two hours, there was a chance that her name would be called from a big glass bowl. She knew that the chances of getting her name called were very small. Her siblings wouldn't let her take out any tesserae and so her name would only be in there once, but it still didn't guarantee that her name wouldn't be called.

Joan exited the building and made her way back to her house. It was a small thing at the end of her street in which her entire family lived. And she meant entire. The residents included her mother, father, older brother and sister, her brother's fiancé, her four grandparents, her aunt and uncle, and three cousins. And her goldfish, Mr. Bubbles.

She got to the house at the same time her cousin and brother got there, coming home from their job at a company responsible for making thread. Upon seeing her scared face, both gave her reassuring smiles. It made her feel a little better, but it still didn't change the fact that she could be picked.

By the time, she had finished getting ready, everyone was already at the door doing a head count. Wouldn't want to leave anyone behind on such a delightful day of the year. She and her cousin, Andy were the only two still eligible for the reaping though. The group made their way out the door and caught the bus to the center of the district.

Upon arrival, she and Andy split from the rest of the group and went to the line to get checked in. As they got closer, Joan could see that they were pricking people's fingers before letting them go to their proper sections. Andy felt her grip on his hand tighten and told her not to worry and that it didn't hurt as much as it looked like it would, but it wasn't the needle she was worried about. She had pricked her finger thousands of time working in the sewing factory. What worried her was that every time somebody got signed in and went off to their respective sections, that meant she was one person closer to her being signed in and officially in her first reaping.

She was shaking by the time they made it to the front of the line. The man doing the sign ins grabbed her hand, and pricked her finger before yelling "Next!" just like he had done with the girl before her in line.

"I'll come get you as soon as the reaping is over, and then we'll go find the rest of the family okay?" Andy asked. She just nodded. "Just stay put until then,"

She watched her cousin walk over to the thirteen year old section, and then she slowly made her way over to the are designated for the twelve year olds. She stood silently with a group of her friends from school. All of them looked just as scared as she was.

The escort came up on stage and read the Treaty of Treason. She was a strange woman who found it acceptable to wear clothes made of just about every type of fabric Joan could name in just about every color she could name too. In the same outfit.

By the time the mayor had finished reading his long and boring, oh so very boring, speech, the escort had already made her way down to the bowl with the girl's names in it. She drew one out and read the name. There had only been one slip. Only one of them out of thousands had her name on it. And the one slip just so happened to be the one the escort was holding in her hand.

Joan screamed as she heard her name called. The peace keepers knew she was going to be an uncooperative one, and made their way to the twelve year old section to collect the crying girl and then dragged her up to the stage. A boy by the name of Evander was called next. He made his way silently up to the stage while the boy's mother cried in the roped off outer sections. Both tributes knew that the odds were not in their favor this year.

* * *

I hope you found this chapter to your liking. If you could let me know what you thought in a review, that would be great. Hopefully the next chapter will be posted soon.


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